Buick Enclave

With luxurious appointments and features, the Enclave is Buick’s upscale family hauler with refinement that rivals more expensive vehicles. Power is delivered by a 281-hp 3.6-liter V-6, mated to a six-speed automatic transmission and either front- or all-wheel drive. The Enclave is a quiet, refined crossover with a long list of optional equipment. Some of those features hike the price of the car quickly, though, and many of those options are only marginally useful. Official Photos and Info – 2013 Buick Enclave

2013 Buick Enclave

Buick's three-row crossover gets some restrained refinement.

The Buick Enclave is built on the same GM Lambda platform as the GMC Acadia and the Chevrolet Traverse three-row crossovers, and with more than 58,000 examples sold last year, has managed to carve out a lucrative niche in its segment. But all good things must be refreshed—the Enclave was introduced as a 2008 model—so all three Lambdas are being reworked this year, with this 2013 Enclave being the last to break cover. It and the 2013 Chevy Traverse make their debut at the 2012 New York auto show; the 2013 Acadia debuted at January's Detroit show.

Buick certainly appreciates the Enclave's success, and that's perhaps why this mid-cycle update is subtle. Materials, details, and styling are slightly revised in the interest of remaining contemporary, but the Enclave’s essence remains fully intact.

Same as it Ever Was

When staring the Enclave down from the front, the grille remains the most striking detail, and it now features an alternating pattern of black and chrome uprights of varying dimensions in place of the previous all-chrome job. The lower front fascia is now painted to match the body. New headlamps have a longer, leaner, and more-angular profile; they incorporate amber turn indicators, which formerly resided in the bumper. Standard HID lamps are enhanced with LED accent lights, while active headlamps that turn to illuminate corners are available. Blue rings in the headlights match those on the previous car, as well as the cars in the rest of Buick’s lineup. Finally, Buick’s trademark portholes have been moved to the top of the hood.

LED taillamps and a body-color rear valance have been fitted at the rear, where the oval exhaust outlets of the outgoing Enclave have been replaced with more-rectangular units. Aluminum 18-inch wheels are standard; buyers will have their choice of upgrading to either 19- or 20-inch rollers in painted, machined, or chrome finishes.

From the Inside

We haven’t seen a press release in months that didn’t tout the newfound luxurious feel and contemporary ambience of a vehicle’s interior made possible by the use of “high-quality, soft-touch materials,” and the information accompanying this new Buick is no different. That said, the Enclave’s was always the best-appointed interior among the Lambda crossovers, and that should continue to be the case.

Exposed, actual stitching and chrome accents run throughout the interior, and ice-blue LED ambient lighting around the dash reprises the blue theme from the headlights. Four interior color combinations—including a new Cocoa leather option—with wood-toned accents should appease Buick-loving fashionistas. Buick also reworked the Enclave's center stack with larger knobs; this should address our complaint about the first Enclave's large number of insanely tiny and inscrutable buttons. Redundant controls reside on the steering wheel, which has genuine mahogany trim.

The three-row Enclave still is available in seven- or eight-passenger configurations; sliding second-row seating permits access to the third row with the pull of a single handle. When the second and third rows are folded, the Enclave offers a total of 115 cubic feet of storage, which Buick points out is more than that offered by a few competitors, including the recently launched Infiniti JX, the Acura MDX, and the Lincoln MKT.

Clever Connections

All Enclaves come equipped with Buick’s IntelliLink infotainment setup. Although its name may bring to mind the Mattel Intellivision video-game console from the '80s, it’s actually a reasonably advanced piece of technology that complements GM’s OnStar system. Pandora, Stitcher SmartRadio, Bluetooth, satellite radio, A2DP audio streaming, and MP3 playback are all part of the package. Teamed with OnStar, the myBuick mobile app offers connectivity to the vehicle from elsewhere, so you can wow friends and relatives with your magical ability to lock and unlock your Enclave from your cell phone. Apps on connected smartphones can be controlled via the steering-wheel controls, voice commands, or the touch screen, which also serves as the display for the standard rearview camera system. The 2013 Enclave also gets the front center airbag that appears in the updated Chevy Traverse and GMC Acadia. Also new for 2013 are side blind-zone alert and rear cross-traffic alert, which provide visible and audio warnings before you back over junior’s Sting-Ray bicycle in the driveway.

The front and rear suspension have been revised for 2013, too, with the front now getting dual-flow dampers and new rebound springs, and the rear new low-velocity shocks. Also coming in for a makeover is the Enclave’s Hydra-Matic six-speed automatic transmission, which benefits from revised programming to provide improved shift smoothness and overall drivability. The 281-hp, 3.6-liter V-6 carries over, as does the choice of front- or all-wheel drive.

The 2013 model goes on sale this fall. Like an old flame returning after a semester abroad—or in this case, a couple of weeks in NYC—the Enclave has changed just enough to keep things interesting. Interesting for a three-row crossover, anyway.

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